10-05-2024  7:49 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Taxpayers in 24 States Will Be Able to File Their Returns Directly With the IRS in 2025

The pilot program in 2024 allowed people in certain states with very simple W-2s to calculate and submit their returns directly to the IRS. Those using the program claimed more than million in refunds, the IRS said.

Companies Back Away From Oregon Floating Offshore Wind Project as Opposition Grows

The federal government finalized two areas for floating offshore wind farms along the Oregon coast in February. But opposition from tribes, fishermen and coastal residents highlights some of the challenges the plan faces.

Preschool for All Growth Outpaces Enrollment Projections

Mid-year enrollment to allow greater flexibility for providers, families.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden Demands Answers From Emergency Rooms That Denied Care to Pregnant Patients

Wyden is part of a Democratic effort to focus the nation’s attention on the stories of women who have faced horrible realities since some states tightened a patchwork of abortion laws.

NEWS BRIEFS

Oregon’s 2024-25 Teacher of the Year is Bryan Butcher Jr. of Beaumont Middle School

“From helping each of his students learn math in the way that works for them, to creating the Black Student Union at his school,...

Burn Ban Lifted in the City of Portland

Although the burn ban is being lifted, Portland Fire & Rescue would like to remind folks to only burn dried cordwood in a...

Midland Library to Reopen in October

To celebrate the opening of the updated, expanded Midland, the library is hosting two days of activities for the community...

U.S. Congressman Al Green Commends Biden Administration on Launching Investigation into 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre; Mulls Congressional Action

The thriving African American community of Greenwood, popularly known as Black Wall Street, was criminally leveled by a white mob...

Governor Kotek, Oregon Housing and Community Services Announce Current and Projected Homelessness Initiative Outcomes

The announcement is accompanied by a data dashboard that shows the progress for the goals set within the...

Idaho state senator tells Native American candidate 'go back where you came from' in forum

KENDRICK, Idaho (AP) — Tensions rose during a bipartisan forum this week after an audience question about discrimination reportedly led an Idaho state senator to angrily tell a Native American candidate to “go back where you came from.” Republican Sen. Dan Foreman left the...

Washington state fines paper mill 0,000 after an employee is killed

CAMAS, Wash. (AP) — Washington state authorities have fined one of the world's leading paper and pulp companies nearly 0,000 after one of its employees was crushed by a packing machine earlier this year. The penalty comes after Dakota Cline, 32, was killed on March 8 while...

No 9 Missouri faces stiff road test in visit to No. 25 Texas A&M

No. 9 Missouri hits the road for the first time this season, facing arguably its toughest challenge so far. The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) know the trip to No. 25 Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0) on Saturday will be tough for several reasons if they want to extend their...

No. 9 Missouri looks to improve to 5-0 in visit to No. 25 Texas A&M

No. 9 Missouri (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) at No. 25 Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0), Saturday, 12 p.m. ET (ABC). BetMGM College Football Odds: Texas A&M by 2 1/2. Series record: Texas A&M leads 9-7. WHAT’S AT STAKE? The winner will...

OPINION

The Skanner News: 2024 City Government Endorsements

In the lead-up to a massive transformation of city government, the mayor’s office and 12 city council seats are open. These are our endorsements for candidates we find to be most aligned with the values of equity and progress in Portland, and who we feel...

No Cheek Left to Turn: Standing Up for Albina Head Start and the Low-Income Families it Serves is the Only Option

This month, Albina Head Start filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to defend itself against a misapplied rule that could force the program – and all the children it serves – to lose federal funding. ...

DOJ and State Attorneys General File Joint Consumer Lawsuit

In August, the Department of Justice and eight state Attorneys Generals filed a lawsuit charging RealPage Inc., a commercial revenue management software firm with providing apartment managers with illegal price fixing software data that violates...

America Needs Kamala Harris to Win

Because a 'House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand' ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

San Francisco's first Black female mayor is in a pricey battle for a second term

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When London Breed was elected as San Francisco's first Black woman mayor, it was a pinch-me moment for a poor girl from public housing whose ascension showed that no dream was impossible in the progressive, compassionate and equitable city. But the honeymoon was...

Idaho state senator tells Native American candidate 'go back where you came from' in forum

KENDRICK, Idaho (AP) — Tensions rose during a bipartisan forum this week after an audience question about discrimination reportedly led an Idaho state senator to angrily tell a Native American candidate to “go back where you came from.” Republican Sen. Dan Foreman left the...

Judge denies an order sought by a Black student who was punished over his hair

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday denied a request by a Black high school student in Texas for a court order that the student’s lawyers say would have allowed him to return to his high school without fear of having his previous punishment over his hairstyle resume. Darryl...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: 'The Last Dream,' short stories scattered with the seeds of Pedro Almodovar films

The seeds of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar's later cinematic work are scattered throughout the pages of “The Last Dream,” his newly published collection of short writings. The stories and essays were gathered together by Almodóvar's longtime assistant, including many pieces...

Book Review: Louise Erdrich writes about love and loss in North Dakota in ’The Mighty Red’

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Louise Erdrich (“The Night Watchman,” 2021) returns with a story close to her heart, “The Mighty Red.” Set in the author’s native North Dakota, the title refers to the river that serves as a metaphor for life in the Red River Valley. It also carries a...

Book Review: 'Revenge of the Tipping Point' is fan service for readers of Gladwell's 2000 book

It's been nearly 25 years since Malcolm Gladwell published “The Tipping Point," and it's still easy to catch it being read on airplanes, displayed prominently on executives' bookshelves or hear its jargon slipped into conversations. It's no surprise that a sequel was the next logical step. ...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

A French judge in a shocking rape case allows the public to see some of the video evidence

PARIS (AP) — A French judge in the trial of dozens of men accused of raping an unconscious woman whose now...

AP PHOTOS: In their 80s, these South Korean women learned reading and rap

CHILGOK, South Korea (AP) — Wearing an oversized bucket hat, silver chains and a black Miu Miu...

A Texas execution is renewing calls for clemency. It's rarely granted

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas man set to die this month is at the center of another push for clemency in the...

Israeli airstrikes rock southern suburbs of Beirut and cut off a key crossing into Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel carried out another series of punishing airstrikes Friday, hitting suburban Beirut and...

Mexico’s new president promises to resume fight against climate change

MEXICO CITY (AP) — In her first days as Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum made a point of distancing...

AP PHOTOS: In their 80s, these South Korean women learned reading and rap

CHILGOK, South Korea (AP) — Wearing an oversized bucket hat, silver chains and a black Miu Miu...

Jesse Owens on Olympic podium in 1936
The Associated Press

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) — Amid the jerseys and baseball bats held in a secure room at SCP Auctions, there's a piece of sports memorabilia that speaks to much more than athletic prowess: an Olympic medal won by track star Jesse Owens at the 1936 Games in Berlin.

The medal — being auctioned online — recalls both the Nazi propaganda myths that Owens busted with his world record-setting 100-yard dash, and the American segregation that he came home to when he returned to the U.S. after the Games, which Adolf Hitler had orchestrated to showcase his ideas of Aryan supremacism.

“Almost singlehandedly, Owens obliterated Hitler's plans,” SCP Auctions partner Dan Imler said. “You've got an African American, son of a sharecropper, grandson of slaves who overcame these incredible circumstances and delivered a performance for the ages.”

Owens won gold in the 100- and 200-meters, the 400 relay and the long jump. But when he returned from the Berlin Games, he struggled to provide for his family.

His job options were limited by segregation and because he decided to return home instead of going on tour with the U.S. Olympic Team, he was stripped of his amateur athletic status.

“When they came back, the U.S. was just as it was when he left — segregated. Even though he came back an Olympic hero, he wasn't offered opportunities that Olympic heroes of today are offered,” said his daughter, Marlene Owens Rankin, 74, of Chicago. “We lived well, a middle class life. We didn't want for much. But like many black men of that era, he struggled to provide for his family.”

Owens gave one of his four Olympic gold medals to dancer and movie star Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, another supremely talented African-American whose career was hemmed in by limited roles for black men, Imler said. Robinson befriended Owens after the athlete return from the Olympics.

“They formed a friendship and also a professional relationship. Bojangles helped Owens get work in the entertainment field,” Imler said. “Owens gave him this medal out of gratitude and as a token of their friendship.”

Owens worked for a short time as a band leader but eventually returned to his hometown of Cleveland where he worked for the parks department and eventually found his way into public speaking, his daughter said.

“The black community revered him for what he had accomplished,” she said. “Had it been an even playing field, my father and Bojangles would have been super-stars.”

The medal comes from the estate of Robinson's widow. The Robinson family declined to comment but Imler said they plan to use the proceeds to pay college tuition and contribute to charity.

SCP Auctions confirmed that the medal is genuine. The whereabouts of the other three original gold medals is unknown.

“We just hope that it's purchased by an institution where the public could have access to it, a museum or something like that,” his daughter said.

The auction closes on Dec. 7.